


Running errands

by ToxicPineapple



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: (between kaito and maki not kaito and kokichi THIS IS A PLATONIC ONE-SHOT), A babey, Alternate Universe: No Killing Game, Awkward Conversations, Bickering, Brief Mention of Unrequited Feelings, Department Stores, Developing Friendship, Gen, Humour, Lighthearted, Non-Despair AU, One (1) Named OC, Platonic Relationships, Post-Hope's Peak Academy AU, THIS IS A PLATONIC RELATIONSHIP, Talking to kids, a child, ahem, friendships, just happiness, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22113178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToxicPineapple/pseuds/ToxicPineapple
Summary: “Wait-- Ouma!” He starts after the guy, but Kokichi is faster, and by the time Kaito reaches him, he’s already dropped down to sit, criss-cross-apple-sauce, in front of the child. They must hear the rustling of Kokichi’s obnoxious yellow and purple windbreaker, because they lift their head from their legs, peering at him with wide, red-rimmed and watery brown eyes. Kaito feels his heart weep a little bit. He’s alright with kids, he supposes, but he honestly has no idea what Kokichi is planning, and that makes him feel inclined to step in before anything bad can happen. He opens his mouth to speak.“Hiya,” Kokichi says softly, leaning forward and propping up his face on his hands. His elbows are perched on the edges of his knees, and it looks a bit precarious, but he seems perfectly comfortable, a wide grin on his face. “You look cozy.”---You learn a lot about a person when you watch how they talk to children.
Relationships: Momota Kaito & Ouma Kokichi
Comments: 18
Kudos: 133





	Running errands

Kaito usually likes running errands. He knows that it’s kind of a weird thing to be a big fan of, but it’s kind of nice to have something specific to do. A list of tasks to fulfill that are totally uncomplicated. As the  _ luminary of the stars,  _ he also excels at completing complicated tasks! But he likes the simple ones more, which he thinks is understandable. Things that can all be completed in one trip. Groceries, bank trips, a run to the laundromat, whatever. It makes sense, in the way that things that heavily involve people. And while he’s doing it, everything is simple and almost boring, even, to the point where he can let his mind wander, which is his favourite.

The key word here, though, is  _ usually. _

“Momotaaaaa,” Kokichi whines, for what must be the fourth time, and Kaito keeps his gaze fixed determinedly on the road, tightening his grip on the steering wheel so that the rubber bumps dig into his palms and his knuckles turn white. He’s glaring so hard out the windshield that there’s a headache forming in his temples, and Kokichi is acting like a child, writhing around in the passenger seat and tugging on his seatbelt intermittently as if that’ll speed things up. “Are we there yet?”

“Obviously not,” Kaito grits out. “Since I’m still driving.” He’d usually try to be more patient with the guy (despite what his friends would say of their relationship) considering that tasks like this are much more pleasant done in the company of someone who you’re not currently squabbling with, but in his defense, they’ve been on the road for all of ten minutes and Kokichi has been talking incessantly since he pulled out of the driveway.

Kaede should’ve known better than to ask them to go out and run errands together. It’s just some last minute things they need to pick up from the department store a fifteen minutes away from her house, in preparation for the welcome-home party they’re throwing tonight in light of Maki’s return from England (she’s been out of town for work and Kaito’s missed her like hell but that’s just how things fall into place sometimes) so it shouldn’t be too much for one person to handle. Plus, if Kaede wanted more than one person to go, then she should’ve asked Kaito and  _ Shuichi,  _ because Shuichi isn’t doing anything either-- or even just Shuichi and Kokichi, because the detective is much better at handling the brat than Kaito has ever been, for some weird reason.

But Kaede’s always had these illusions about everyone getting along, so she probably saw this as an opportunity to force them to work together on something. She’s been pulling this crap since high school, and she’s Kaito’s best friend which means he’s obligated to tolerate it, but damn he’d be lying if he said he likes the little shit, even after all this time. They’re in their twenties now, which means that Kokichi needs to start acting like an adult, but he  _ hasn’t.  _ He’s just as insufferable as ever. And that sucks.

“Ugh, I hate long car rides.” Kokichi slumps back into his seat, a look of total defeat washing over his features, and it’s so convincing that Kaito would feel sorry for the guy if he didn’t know him better than that. Kokichi doesn’t mind long car rides, which Kaito knows for a fact, because Rantaro took them all on a road trip a couple years back, and out of everyone in the vehicle, Kokichi seemed to be the one enjoying himself the most. Even more than Rantaro-- though that bit might’ve been an exaggeration on Kokichi’s part, since Kaito is pretty sure that nobody loves exploring and shit more than Rantaro does. “We should’ve walked.”

“This isn’t even a long drive,” Kaito reminds, tempted to lift a hand from the wheel and pinch the bridge of his nose. “It’s  _ fifteen minutes,  _ and anyway, it would’ve taken us an hour walking and forty minutes on public transit.” Plus, Kaito has a car. There’s no reason to bus or work since he has one. Doing anything else would be, in Kaito’s opinion, inefficient. If it was a gas car, there’d be at least the carbon emissions argument, but his car is electric. (Of course it is; Kaito is a scientist and climate change keeps him up at night.) “You’d feel even worse if we chose to walk.”

“At least we’d be outside.” Kokichi pouts, crossing his arms over his chest, and Kaito snorts. He looks like a child already, since he’s so short, but the sulky expression on his face is downright adolescent. “This car is stuffy and I hate it.”

“Crack a window.”

“But then I’ll be cold!” Protests Kokichi, and Kaito nearly throws his arms into the air. He manages to restrain himself before he loses hold of the wheel and accidentally steers the car into a ditch.

“You’d be cold outside too, you little shit.” He grumbles instead, flicking his turn signal and merging lanes so that he can turn. “Listen, we’re almost there, okay? Stop whining. You can choose a music station if you want--” even though Kokichi will, without a doubt, put on some of that infernal racket that he calls “hip hop”, “--but just try to chill out.” What Kaito wants to say, but doesn’t, is that he’s already stressed enough with all this party business. He doesn’t know why Kaede and Tsumugi insist on hosting a party every time one of their friends returns from a long trip. (Except Rantaro, of course, since he’s out and about so often that doing so would be downright unreasonable.) It’s more Kaede than Tsumugi, but since Tsumugi has a pretty mild personality when it comes to the things she’s not all that passionate, she’s a huge enabler.

It wouldn’t even be a problem if it wasn’t Maki returning, too, because she’s Kaito’s other best friend, aside from Shuichi and Kaede, but there’s also the awkward question of  _ is my best friend in love with me?  _ that he’s been grappling with since she took off. She’s been sending mixed signals recently and Kaito doesn’t know what to think about it. He doesn’t particularly want to think anything about it, because that would mean confronting his own feelings about her, and he’s pretty sure that he’s not ready to do that right now. But that also means that he hasn’t yet, and she’ll probably be waiting on an answer from him sometime soon, which is… stressful.

Google Maps is telling him that the store is just around the corner, thankfully, though he has to strain to hear the computerised voice that comes from his speakers over the rap music that Kokichi has started playing. Kaito doesn’t listen to a lot of music, or any specific genre of music to be more precise, but he knows he doesn’t like rap. He’s more fond of older songs, he supposes. The classics. This vulgar crap is totally not his thing. He lets Kokichi play it though, because they’re pulling into the parking lot now.

  
  


“Finally!” Kokichi unbuckles his seatbelt before the car has even come to a complete stop and leaps out the door, leaving it hanging open behind him as he runs off towards the store. The guy is fast, too; Kaito blinks and he’s already halfway across the parking lot.

“Ouma!” Kaito yells, undoing his seatbelt after parking and leaning across the seat to try to get his attention, but… it’s no use, Kokichi is becoming a spec in the distance. Irritably, Kaito undoes his own seatbelt and climbs out of the car, locking the doors and double checking that he has his wallet before slamming his door (as well as Kokichi’s) and sprinting through the parking lot after the brat. How old is he now, twenty four? He should be well and truly done with these kinds of shenanigans!”

Kokichi stops, though, and waits for him at the entrance to the store. When Kaito skids to a stop in front of him, he takes a minute to breathe, wincing at a familiar stitch in his side that was mostly taken care of during high school, but still acts up from time to time. Thankfully, he doesn’t start coughing blood. Kokichi’s expression is strangely blank for a moment, simply and wordlessly watching Kaito catch his breath, but when the other man straightens, he breaks into a grin. “Nishishi, if you’re done panting like some old dog, we should go inside!”   
  


After careful consideration, Kaito decides not to dignify that dig with a response and starts into the department store. It’s hard to tune out Kokichi’s shit sometimes, but after almost a decade of knowing this guy, Kaito likes to think that he’s gotten better at it. It helps knowing that Kokichi doesn’t mean the vast majority of the things that he says-- though it can be infuriating, too, especially when Kokichi is intentionally misleading people, because when push comes to shove, he’s an extremely good liar, and Kaito still doesn’t know how to recognise it when the other guy is lying.

“Soo! What are we buying, Momota?” Kokichi beams, mock affection filling his eyes, and latches onto Kaito’s arm. Kaito shakes him off, giving him an annoyed look, but lets it fall in hopes that Kokichi won’t drag out the fake tears. “Yeesh, you’re mean. I was just trying to show my love for you.” Pouts the other man.

“Nah, you weren’t,” Kaito huffs out a laugh at this, making his way through the store relatively comfortably. He’s spent a good couple hours in here in better company than he is now, so he has a pretty good feel for the layout. What they’re looking for is downstairs, and they’re going to have to take an escalator, which won’t be fun with Kokichi, but it’s either that or an elevator, and the latter sounds way worse. “You’ve got the hots for Shuichi.” He adds, grinning, and his accusation earns him an eye roll from the other man, but noticeably no further teasing, which feels great. It’s nice to know that Kokichi is transparent about  _ something-- _ even if Shuichi is more dense than a block of wood.

They’ve gotten about halfway down the escalator in silence when Kokichi hoists himself up onto the handrail. It’s moving with them, so it isn’t as though he’s in danger of being left behind, but Kaito jolts because his balance on the thing looks terribly unreliable. “Escalators are boring,” Kokichi proclaims, in lieu of an explanation. “So I-- hey!” He protests loudly as Kaito drags him down, keeping a very firm grip on his wrists, but doesn’t fight all that hard until they’ve reached the bottom, and at that point, Kaito has let him go, shaking out his hands and thinking about how irritated he is. “Rantaro would’ve let me play around.”

  
“No he wouldn’t have.” Kaito glares as he starts towards the aisle where they need to go. “Amami might be an enabler but he’s like some kind of a mother hen. Besides, you wouldn’t be pulling that shit around him. You’re trying to annoy  _ me.” _

“Yeah, you’re right.” Kokichi admits with a shrug. He keeps pace with Kaito, despite the fact that the taller man is deliberately making larger strides than he would usually in an attempt to shrug him off, and beams. “But you’re so fun to annoy, Momota!”

“Is silence a word in your vocabulary?” Kaito groans, his headache beginning to return. The momentary satisfaction from being able to shut the other man down earlier has worn off, and his temples are throbbing like crazy. He half-wishes the party wasn’t tonight, but tomorrow, so that he could lie down when he returns to Kaede’s instead of having to deal with people all night. Not that he hates parties, but they’re always terrible for headaches, and his friends are especially rowdy. “Can’t we just get this over with quickly?”

“Huuuh, but what would be the fun in that?” Tilting his head to the side, Kokichi curls his upper lip, an expression that, on anyone else, would be innocent and even charming. On him, though, it’s just taunting, daring Kaito to raise his voice and retaliate. (Which would be embarrassing in the middle of the department store.)

Still, Kaito is sorely tempted, and he’s even about to tell Kokichi to cut the crap when he notices something odd. There’s someone sitting against the end of one of the shelves, someone small-- a child, Kaito thinks-- wearing a very large sweatshirt that they’ve pulled over their knees and tucked their face into. They’re curled into a ball but their shoulders seem to be shaking, visibly enough that Kaito can tell, even from this distance, and the sight of the kid makes all thoughts of yelling at Kokichi fly right out of his mind.

“What’re you looking at?” Without waiting for a response, Kokichi turns around, and when his gaze presumably lands on the child, he goes rigid. Stone-cold and silent, as though thinking hard. Then, without even addressing Kaito again, he walks right over to the kid.

“Wait-- Ouma!” He starts after the guy, but Kokichi is faster, and by the time Kaito reaches him, he’s already dropped down to sit, criss-cross-apple-sauce, in front of the child. They must hear the rustling of Kokichi’s obnoxious yellow and purple windbreaker, because they lift their head from their legs, peering at him with wide, red-rimmed and watery brown eyes. Kaito feels his heart weep a little bit. He’s alright with kids, he supposes, but he honestly has no idea what Kokichi is planning, and that makes him feel inclined to step in before anything bad can happen. He opens his mouth to speak.

“Hiya,” Kokichi says softly, leaning forward and propping up his face on his hands. His elbows are perched on the edges of his knees, and it looks a bit precarious, but he seems perfectly comfortable, a wide grin on his face. “You look cozy.”

The kid sniffles and looks away, appearing to chew at the inside of their cheek. Their nose, which Kaito sees when they turn their head, is red and runny and dotted with pale freckles. They look upset, is what he’s trying to say. “Yeah.” They whisper, and Kaito barely hears them, their voice is so faint and hoarse, but Kokichi grins, like their lackluster response is a promise of lottery money.

“I thought so! The department store is always the best place to curl up. I, personally, always come here when I’m upset with all my big scary adult friends. It’s great.” He pokes out his tongue, and the kid stares at him, unblinking, but Kaito thinks he sees the corner of their cheek twitching, like they’re amused but unwilling to admit it. “Not that I ever bring a hoodie-- should I? It looks comfortable, and it’s not like, super extra, which it would be if I brought blankets and a pillow. If I wanted that I could just go to the furniture section, ya know?”

“...yeah,” the kid agrees after a moment, watching Kokichi bat his eyelashes with a very wide and innocent smile. “Uhm--” they start to speak but break off again, looking nervous. Their lips are chapped, Kaito notices, but it’s not that bad. Nothing worse than what he usually gets during the winter. “I-It’s actually not,” they mumble, sounding embarrassed.

“What’s not?” Kokichi asks gently, tilting his head to the side.

“Th-This, sitting on the floor, my legs are all cramped and my butt hurts,” something, Kaito assumes, that is a perfectly normal thing to just say; Kokichi certainly acts like it is, because he nods knowingly all the time. “I don’t wanna be but I--” they cut off. “N-Nevermind.”

“Hmmm. Well, I knew it wasn’t comfortable.” Boasts Kokichi, drumming his fingers against his cheek. He painted his nails recently, a solid neon purple that hurts Kaito’s eyes a bit, and he thinks the kid is fascinated by it, because their eyes follow his movements rather than his words. “You look like you’re trying to become suuuuuper tiny! Which is fun, but you’re totally going about it all wrong, y’know? Have you even tried spinning around first?”

“Huh?” The kid, understandably, sounds pretty confused.

“Y’know!” Kokichi beams, and the child does not, in fact, appear to know. “It’s common knowledge, isn’t it? That when you wanna shrink down really small so no one can see you, you have to spin around several times and pat yourself on the head and then jump up and high five three and a half of the ceiling tiles? I totally learned this when I was super little!” He looks at Kaito now, expectant. “It’s a pretty normal thing, isn’t it, Kaito?”

Kaito, caught off guard by the use of his given name but realising that he should probably play along, nods. “Yeah, sure,” he replies, and chuckles, to make it seem like he’s being genuine. “Those are pretty basic steps, I thought.”

“Seeee.” Kokichi turns back to the child and sits up straighter, his hands no longer supporting his face, though he’s still leaning forward to meet their gaze. “Kaito knows it, and he’s a suuuuuuper smart scientist guy, so you know he knows what he’s talking about.”

The kid giggles, as though unable to help it, and then claps one of their hands over their mouth.

Kokichi hums, smiling, acting like he wasn’t trying to get this to happen all along. “So! What’s the real reason you’re sitting here, buddy?”

“Oh…” they avert their gaze again, and then after a moment their legs pop out from under their sweatshirt, and they pull down their hood, brown hair spilling out and revealing that the kid is a girl. She bites her lip, something that Kaito recognises as a distraught expression on her face, and he frowns. The kid can’t be older than ten. “I got lost.” She murmurs, and Kaito barely manages to make out what she says. “I was looking at the windchimes in this aisle with my mom and I got distracted playing with one and then I turned around and suddenly she was gone.”

“Lame adult move!” Kokichi frowns. “You’ve stayed here the whole time waiting, huh?”

“Yeah.” She nods, sniffling. “That’s what Mom says to do, when I-- well,  _ if  _ I-- get lost, so…” she looks down. “I didn’t really know what else to do, though. And my feet hurt from walking around so much so I sat down. But it’s been so long and I don’t know where she is and I’m really hungry and what if she left?” She fiddles with the zipper on the bottom of her sweatshirt; Kaito sees that there’s a second one. “I dunno why but what if she got in the car and drove away without me because I--”

“Okay, you really can’t finish that one,” Kokichi crosses his arms. “Because that’s a totally lame way of thinking. Your mom is definitely for sure looking for you, y’know.”

The little girl heaves a sigh. “How do you know that?” She looks reproachful, but beneath it Kaito can tell that she’s hoping that Kokichi is going to present her with evidence, make her mom appear magically in front of her somehow.

“Duhh, that’s what moms do. They’re like, cursed or something, if they don’t.” Kokichi hops to his feet and makes a big show of dusting himself off before thrusting out his hand, offering it to the girl who is still sitting down on the floor. “C’mon. We’re gonna say heck no to this whole staying in one place and waiting thing, and you’re gonna tell me your name, and then we’re gonna go to the help desk and they’re gonna use their fancy intercom device to say your mom’s name  _ real loud  _ to the whole store so she knows exactly where to find you.” The girl squints up at him, for a moment, as though suspicious, and then, heaving a sigh, Kokichi adds, “My name is Kokichi. My friends call me Kool Kat, though. With Ks and everything.”

Giggling again, like she can’t help herself, the little girl reaches up and allows him to hoist her to her feet. She’s  _ little,  _ even standing next to Kokichi, who isn’t exactly a model of long legs. Next to Kaito she is teeny tiny. He could just as easily swing her over his shoulder as a he could a bag of potatoes. Her gaze flits over to him once she’s on her feet, dusting herself off with overlarge hoodie sleeves, and she asks, “Do people really call him that?”

“No.” Kaito responds simply, shaking his head. “I’m sure he wishes we would, though,” he adds, giving Kokichi what he hopes is a pointed look, and the other man stumbles back, a hand flying to his chest. “I’m Kaito,” he adds, offering the little girl a smile.

“Okay.” She smiles too. “Are you really a scientist?”

“Yeah, of course I am!” He gives her a thumbs up, and she giggles once more, covering her mouth with one hand. “Even Ou-- uh, K-Kokichi wouldn’t lie about something like that!”

She nods, seeming to understand, and says quietly, “I’m Haruna.”

“Excellent! Now that you’ve given me your name, I can steal your identity! Nishishi! But to the help desk first so we can get you back to your mother, huh?” Kokichi smiles, and Haruna blinks at him. She probably isn’t quite old enough to get the identity theft joke (not that Kokichi  _ could  _ steal her identity with just a given name… Kaito thinks) but she seems to be looking at him with something verging on gratefulness, even though she also looks shaky still, like she half-wants to start crying again.

“W-What way is the help desk?” Haruna asks, shifting from one foot to the other and looking uncomfortable.

“Youuu don’t need to know any of that stuff, since walking is lame!” Kokichi declares before turning around and crouching down, putting out his arms. “Hop on, did you know my fursona is a horse?”

Thankfully, Haruna doesn’t seem to be the type of kid to ask questions about these things, because a few moments and zero awkward explanations later, Kokichi’s giving her a piggyback ride (something Kaito has only ever seen him be given) and Haruna’s cheek is squished against the back of his head. She looks tired, really, so it was a good call on Kokichi’s part to carry her, but--

Actually, that’s just it. All of these things have been good calls. It’s unsettling. How is Kokichi so good with children? Kaito squints at the back of Kokichi’s head, watching him walk and hearing the rambling that is coming out of his mouth but not registering any of it. He supposes that someone so childish would know how kids think and feel, but the grace with which Kokichi managed to not only make Haruna feel better but get her to trust him was incredible. Something Kaito didn’t realise he was capable of. He’s not sure he’s ever seen the other man’s gaze so gentle before.

They reach the help desk before long, and it’s only a few moments after Haruna’s name is announced to the store at large that her mom appears, rushing forward to take Haruna from Kokichi’s back, where she’s remained since they arrived at the register. Kaito watches them hug, and then watches as Haruna’s mother showers Kokichi in thanks, which, to his pleasure, the other man seems very awkward trying to fend off. (It seems like Kokichi isn’t used to being on either end of a thank you and thus has no idea how to respond.)

Kokichi doesn’t say anything else throughout the rest of their time in the store. In the few glimpses Kaito manages to catch of his face without seeming creepy, all he can tell is that the other man’s expression is totally blank. He seems to be thinking hard, or maybe just avoiding conversation.

When they’re back in the car and driving to Kaede’s, Kaito finally musters the courage to speak.

“So, kids, huh?”

Eying him warily, Kokichi nods. “Yeah. Kinda my weak spot.” He tilts his head back, pressing his palm down flat against the ceiling of the car. “It’s really dumb that you saw all that just now, though, so I’m gonna have to ask you to be quiet, or else I’ll be forced to kill and torture your fa-”

“Nah, man,” Kaito glances at him and offers a crooked smile. “I thought it was nice.” He clears his throat, realising how complimentary that sounds. “I mean, the way you handled it. You seemed to know exactly what to say.” He always does, really, but it was odd seeing Kokichi using his powers for good. It’s not a bad change, at any rate, but--

“Hey.” Kokichi’s tone is dangerous. “Don’t you go changing your opinion of me now, dumbass. I’m still evil. We’re nemeses. I exist to annoy you. That’s the dynamic we have going and if you decide that we’re suddenly friends now because you saw one--”

“We were already friends, Kokichi.” Kaito interrupts again, and finds himself smiling despite his words at the plainly flabbergasted look that spreads across Kokichi’s face. “What, you think I’d put up with a brat like you for eight years if you weren’t my friend? You’re underestimating the backbone of the luminary of the stars!”

“It’s not that you don’t have a backbone,” Kokichi says slowly. “I just thought you had good taste. Harukawa, Akamatsu, and Saihara are pretty good people to be choosing to spend your time around, so…” he trails off, as though not sure why he just said that.

“I  _ do  _ have good taste,” Kaito responds indignantly. “And you proved it just now.” He pulls up to a red light and turns his head so that he can meet Kokichi’s gaze. The other man looks uncomfortable, but not significantly enough that Kaito is willing to shut up and spare his dignity. He could stand to hear this, probably. “I’m trying to say I respect you, man, just take the praise and go with it. Yeah, you’re a little shit, but we’re friends, y’know?”

Kokichi sizes him up for a moment. “The light is green,” he says eventually, instead of a real response, and Kaito grunts, turning his attention back onto the road. He hears Kokichi hum, though, and so he tunes in, despite keeping his gaze fixed ahead of him. “And… yeah. I guess we are.”

He sounds awkward, but genuine, too-- Kaito thinks he’s known the guy long enough to ascertain. Besides, there’s nobody else around right now, so there’s no reason for him to lie. He shoots Kokichi another grin, and the other man scoffs, but out of the corner of his eye, he can see his friend struggling not to smile in return.

**Author's Note:**

> y'all know i hate romantic oumota but this was a good platonic prompt so we vibin
> 
> asdjfkhds bro... what if... kaito and kokichi were friends... and they got along sometimes....
> 
> haha jkjkjkjk
> 
> unl--
> 
> anyway
> 
> i vibed really hard with a post that was like "ways to realise ur in love w/ someone" and it listed seeing them interact with kids and honestly? soft. ofc i had to make something platonic out of it tho
> 
> alternatively i could've written amamatsu or ishimondo (probably should've been ishimondo since i don't write enough thh content) but y'know we're vibing i wanted to do ouma with this ahsfjd
> 
> hope you enjoyed :3


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